A night of glitz, glamour and shiny golden statuettes was meant to be the order of the night at the 94th Academy Awards, but Will Smith stole the show with that unforgettable slap he planted on Chris Rock after Rock cracked a joke about his wife Jade-Pinkett Smith.
The talk of the town now revolves around whether Will Smith over-reacted or whether Chris Rock overstepped his boundaries as a comedian.
Local comedians, Masood Boomgaard, Siv Ngesi and “Aunty Shamilla” portrayed by Prev Reddy shared their views.
Boomgaard who has performed hundreds of comedy shows in various countries around the world said that he wasn’t sure if the slap was real or staged.
After watching it a few times he said a part of him still thinks it was staged for theatrical reasons and to boost Oscar ratings which have fallen dramatically.
Boomgaard said if real, Will’s reaction was definitely uncalled for.
"No matter what the joke was or what the circumstances were, there is no excuse for violence particularly in that context.
“There are various ways Will Smith could have handled it. He could have bantered with Chris Rock, or given Chris a taste of his own medicine, because he is a creative guy,“ he said.
He added that as comedians they do have audience members who get aggressive and shout, but he’s never heard of somebody actually being assaulted on stage.
"From a comedian’s point of view it is hard to draw the line about what to joke about and what not to joke about.
“If you set a precedent then you keep adding to that list then where does it stop, because every topic is potentially funny until it affects you?” said Boomgaard.
Comedian YouTuber and social media influencer, Prev Reddy who is well known for his alter ego Aunty Shamilla said he woke up to the news trending.
“At first I thought it was part of a skit. I think there is a very fine line between humour and being insensitive, and I guess at its core humour is laughing at the ugly truths about human behaviour, but I do believe that laughing at an illness is not funny,” said Reddy.
He said that he understood Smith’s frustration but thought the situation could have been handled better. Pinkett-Smith suffers from a hair loss condition alopecia, and Rock had referred to the actress as G.I Jane due to her close cropped hair.
“I get the anger. If I had to make a joke about someone’s health conditions- which I would never - people will be offended, especially the family of that person. It was taken to far, especially on a public platform like the Oscars where the world is watching,” said Reddy.
Comedian and actor Siv Ngesi commented that Will Smith would have never slapped a man of a different colour.
“Will Smith would have never done that to a White guy. He Is wrong and out of line. I wish he would have tried that s**t with me,” said Ngesi.